Heatmap in : Encoding
Heatmap decides what is being compared in under “Encoding.” The figure that must stay on the axis is 1873. Drawing it larger does not create a unit. Look first for a cut axis and a missing key. A matrix of intensity — dense, seductive, and easy to lie with a rainbow scale.
Heatmap encodes values as color value of a cell in a row-column grid. Toussaint Loua’s 1873 crime tables; later Toussaint/Bertin and 1990s gene arrays. In reports, ads and assignments it fits patterns across two categorical axes at once. Skip it when precise lookup of a number, or a rainbow that is not color-blind safe.
This page gathers anatomy, fit, craft, failure modes and work / ads / school recipes for Heatmap. When the story is: patterns across two categorical axes at once. Skip it in cases like: precise lookup of a number, or a rainbow that is not color-blind safe. Toussaint Loua’s 1873 crime tables; later Toussaint/Bertin and 1990s gene arrays
color value of a cell in a row-column grid Yes if one claim is visible at a glance in Meta, Google and retail print; otherwise link to a full figure. Yes for lab reports and poster boards if axes, units and a source line are present. Excel or Google Sheets or PowerPoint; export SVG/PDF.
Read Heatmap as , “Encoding,” and 1873. A bar with no unit is not those three.1873
Figures to keep
- Year of the chart
- 1873
- Axis figure
- 1873
- Chart
- Heatmap
- How to read it
- Encoding